Patent Law

Sagging

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

For the first time, the USPTO "issued more patents to foreigners than to Americans," reports Business Week. "[T]he slippage comes amid recent reports that show the U.S. losing its edge when it comes to innovation." South Korea, China, and Japan are becoming more productive inventors. "All told, American inventors received 92,000 patents in 2008, down 1.8% from the year before and a rise of just 1.4% over the past decade. Meantime, patients issued to foreigners rose 4.5%, to 93,244, in 2008 and 28.6% since 1998."

More foreign companies are seeking U.S. patents as counter-claim leverage against assertions by U.S. companies. Meanwhile, penny-pinching by companies in this country has reduced domestic patent grants.

Here's the USPTO geographic breakdown of granted patents, by state, and by country, from 1977 to 2008.

BusinessWeek has a slideshow on the World's Most Inventive Cities, prepared by Ocean Tomo. Ignoring city boundaries, it puts San Francisco/Silicon Valley #1.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on April 23, 2009 (boomark / email).